SEE PAGES 20-21

“MUNICH shaped my destiny, of that there is no doubt. But Munich is not my life.”

To share the football field with George Best was an honour for so many.

To clean Harry Gregg’s boots every morning was an honour for George Best.

When a home-loving 15-yearold arrived in Manchester from Belfast in 1961, Gregg took Best under his wing.

That is why Best liked to talk about Gregg’s ‘goodness’. “Bravery is one thing, but what Harry did was about more than bravery,” Best said later. “It was about goodness.”

Best (below, with Gregg) was referring, of course, to the heroism amidst the tragedy of Munich where the United keeper escaped the plane wreckage only to go back in to pull out teammates Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet as well as the pregnant wife of a Yugoslav diplomat and her two-year-old daughter.

The Ulsterman, however, was also a treasured team-mate for other reasons.

Running parallel with the ‘goodness’ was a great goalkeeper, one of the finest in Manchester United’s history. A career devoid of medals, blighted by injury, totalling 348 club appearances and 25 international caps does not tell the full tale.

When he moved from Doncaster Rovers to Old Trafford in December, 1957, it was for the largest fee ever paid for a goalkeeper and Gregg got a £30 signing-on bonus. The fee was £23,750, a mere £70,976,250 less than what Chelsea paid for

Kepa Arrizabalaga to set the current record mark.

You doubt Gregg would have ever refused to come off had his manager tried to substitute him.

Gregg started his career at Linfield Swifts before moving to Coleraine and, after only 19 games there, he was signed by Peter Doherty for Doncaster Rovers.

A broken

Bravery is one thing..this was about more than bravery

arm, dislocated